1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an electronic percussion instrument and, in particular embodiments, to an electronic percussion instrument in which it is possible to set the threshold value for the determination of whether or not to make the vibration level of the upper cymbal in an electronic hi-hat cymbal the trigger signal for musical tone generation in conformance with the position and/or the displacement speed of the upper cymbal.
2. Related Art
For some time, electronic percussion instruments have been provided that mimic acoustic hi-hat cymbals and, with this kind of electronic percussion instrument, the configuration is such that the timbre of the hi-hat is controlled in conformance with the amount of stepping on the foot pedal, in other words, the amount of the displacement of the upper cymbal based on the stepping on the foot pedal. For example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication (Kokai) Number Hei 9-97075 (Patent Reference 1), a sensor (a displacement sensor), which is disposed in the foot pedal for the detection of the amount that the foot pedal has been stepped on, is disclosed.
On the other hand, an electronic hi-hat cymbal in which the upper cymbal is moved up and down in conformance with the amount that a pedal is stepped on and a performance sensation that is the same as that of an acoustic hi-hat cymbal can be mimicked is cited in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication (Kokai) Number 2003-167574 (Patent Reference 2).
In the case where a displacement sensor such as that cited in Patent Reference 1 is installed in an electronic hi-hat cymbal in which the upper cymbal is movable such as that cited in Patent Reference 2, a musical tone is generated in the sound generation section that conforms to the position of the upper cymbal that has been detected by the displacement sensor. The musical tone is generated in conformance with the vibration due to the striking of the upper cymbal or the contact between the upper cymbal and the lower cymbal. In general, in those cases where the vibration sensor detects the vibration level of the upper cymbal and the level has exceeded a specified threshold value, a trigger signal that instructs the generation of a musical tone is output to the sound source section.
However, in an electronic percussion instrument such as those described above, there are cases in which the vibration level that is detected by the vibration sensor is, depending on the position and displacement speed of the upper cymbal, something that is due to an erroneous signal or noise. Because of this, there has been the problem that even when a specified threshold value has been set, erroneous sound generation occurs due to that kind of erroneous signal or noise.
For example, in those cases where there is a weak contact sliding position between the upper cymbal and the lower cymbal, when the upper cymbal is struck, the coming into contact of the upper cymbal and the lower cymbal subtly repeats. The noise at that time is detected by the vibration sensor and, when a trigger signal is repeatedly output to the sound source section because of that, erroneous sound generation due to the noise is produced.
In addition, for example, due to the rapid release of a pedal that has been stepped on, the upper cymbal vibrates due to a rapid movement upward from the bottom. The vibration level at that time is detected by the vibration sensor and, when a trigger signal is output to the sound source section, an erroneous sound generation is produced despite the fact that the state is one in which a musical tone should not be generated.